Amsterdam - Dutch National Monument

(Local Name: Nederlands Nationaal Monument) The National Monument, a 22 m (72ft.) high obelisk, was erected on the Dam after the Second World War. This memorial to the victims of the war and monument to the Liberation and peace was designed by J. J. P. Oud and decorated with sculptures by J. W. Rädeler symbolizing, among other things, War (four male figures), Peace (woman and child) and Resistance (two men with howling dogs). Embedded in the obelisk are urns containing earth from the 11 provinces. A 12th urn contains earth from the cemetery of honor in Indonesia. The monument was dedicated by Queen Juliana on 4 May 1956, the national day of remembrance, and since then the Dutch Queen and her consort have laid wreaths here every year on that day. A two-minute silence is observed throughout the Netherlands at 8 o'clock that same evening. The rest of the year the Liberation monument is a place where young people from all over the world meet.